Toto Wolff praised Kimi Antonelli for the “maturity” he displayed after sustaining damage to his Mercedes in the opening stages of the Chinese GP.
Starting the race from P8 on the grid, Antonelli was trailing behind the Ferrari drivers, who made contact shortly after the start.
The incident caused the front wing end plate of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to detach. The loose end plate led to the floor damage, hampering Antonelli’s performance as the Italian hit it.
Even with significant and performance-hindering damage to his Mercedes, the 18-year-old maintained focus and finished in P8.
The post-race disqualifications of Ferrari drivers Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton promoted the Mercedes driver to sixth place.
Wolff on Antonelli’s drive
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff lauded Antonelli for his mature drive in his print media session after the Chinese GP.
“First of all, on Kimi, he got extensive floor damage.
“We don’t know actually why, whether we ran over Charles’s [Leclerc] end plate, but with massive holes in the floor and titanium streaks that were gone.
“So, considering that he had a car that was severely impaired, finishing eighth, holding on to it, not complaining, just getting on with the job shows the potential and the maturity the young man has, and obviously the drive of the day.”
Wolff was not the only one to view Antonelli’s performance as “drive of the day”. Fans officially voted the Mercedes driver Driver of the Day.
The Mercedes boss notes that the vote is indicative of the fanbase’s demographic.
“So, you also see where the fan demographic is, something to be important as Formula 1 that we remind ourselves.”
Mercedes press statement
Wolff repeated the praise for his young charge in the Mercedes press statement for the Chinese GP weekend.
“Kimi’s race was unfortunately compromised by floor damage he sustained on the first lap.
“He kept his head down though and fought really hard, despite the sizeable performance deficit he was carrying, to come home a creditable P8.
“He didn’t complain throughout the race, just kept focused on the job, and that’s exactly what we want to see.”
